In a reversal process for a color reversal silver halide photographic material such as a color reversal paper, an imagewise exposed color photographic material is generally subjected first to development, then reversal, next to color development and bleach-fixing steps which are performed in that order. The first development is also called black-and-white development, wherein silver halide emulsion grains exposed to an imagewise pattern of light are developed with a black-and-white developer. In a reversal step subsequent thereto, silver halide emulsion grains present in the unexposed areas are optically fogged or treated with a fogging agent. Then, the silver halide emulsion grains which have undergone the reversal processing are subjected to color development to form an image. Desilvering is then carried out using a bleach-fix bath in the bleach-fixing step.
The above-described combination of processing steps is basic, such that a washing, a stabilization and/or other steps may be provided between or after the basic steps, as needed. For example, a process for processing a color reversal paper may consist of a series of steps as described below:
Black-and-white development-Stop-Washing-Reversal exposure-Color development-Washing-Bleach-fix-Washing-Stabilization-Rinsing-Drying.
The details of a series of steps constituting a color reversal process vary depending on the content of the silver halide photographic material to be processed. For example, the details of a suitable color reversal process are appreciably different between a photographic material containing color image forming couplers (e.g., a coupler-in-emulsion type color photographic material), and a photographic material in which the color image forming couplers are supplied from a processing solution at the time of development, but are not incorporated into the photographic material itself (e.g., a coupler-in-developer type color photographic material). In both cases, however, the first development step is carried out as an initial stage of the process.
A typical composition of a black-and-white developer for use in this first development step includes 3-pyrazolidones or hydroquinones as a developing agent and sulfites or hydrogen sulfites as a preservative, while optional components include carbonates as an alkali agent, thioether compounds as an accelerator, potassium bromide as an antifoggant, etc. With regard to potassium bromide in particular, three compounding examples are known as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,963, wherein the potassium bromide concentrations are 0.5 g/l, 1 g/l and 2.5 g/l at the most, respectively.
In a color reversal process, as described above, the first black-and-white development is carried out as a first processing stage. Therefore, it is considered that the contents of the first development have a great influence upon the results of subsequent steps. In other words, the quality of an image formed, or the quality of the photographic properties obtained, depends on the result of the first development.